Suspects
by First Star of Night
Summary: Being a suspect for kidnapping is bad. Knowing that you are innocent for that crime is worse. The fact that your younger brother is in the same position as you is simply devastating. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing. I don't think I can stand to own a mathematical genius like Charlie.

**Author's Note:** This is my first _Numb3rs_ fanfiction, although I do write on a somewhat regular basis. So, like everyone else, I would appreciate reviews to help make this better. Also, I do not promise that I will have regular updates, but I'm going to be trying to update about once a week.

Don was found, for the first time in about ten years, sitting in the back of the classroom. No matter how hard he tried, he could not understand what the professor was talking about. It took all of Don'ts concentration to keep from falling asleep.

Don began to wonder what it would be like to have a brother who was not a mathematical genius. "Would I understand his classes more?" he mused.

"And that is your answer, Janet." Don snapped back into reality. Charlie hit the chalk against the blackboard and turned back to face the class. Although Don had been there for the past ten minutes, Charlie gave a small not towards Don, acknowledging his presence for the first time.

"Okay, class. Is that all the questions you have?" The classroom was silent, except for the occasional pencil scratch or tap. Charlie glanced around before saying, "Then you have the test on this next Tuesday." Charlie turned back around to erase the board, while the flurry of the students gathering their supplies persisted behind him.

Don waited for the commotion to die down before heading to the front of the room, a folder in hand. Still with his back turned, Charlie greeted Don. "Hi, Don."

"Hey, Professor Eppes." Charlie turned to look at his grinning brother before replacing the eraser on the rack. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Don. I knew you were here, and I knew you would be coming over to the desk after class. Statistically, it would have been the only logical thing you would have done. Besides, I'm not always zoned out from the rest of the world to concentrate on numbers, you know." Charlie grabbed his bag and motioned to his office. Don gave a small chuckle before taking the invitation into his brother's office. Charlie followed, leaving the door open.

"So," he said, sitting in his chair and placing his stuff down, "You said you've got a new development in the case?"

Don nodded, the smile on his face disappearing into a more serious one. "We think we have figured out where the students are being taken." Charlie took the folder, looking at all the data the agents collected. This was an unusual case for them, because although they were about to hire Charlie once again to consult, they had found the pattern on their own. Don cleared his throat, and Charlie looked up to face him. "Now, the odd thing is-"

"Uh, Don?" Don stopped talking, and looked at where Charlie was looking. In the doorway stood what Don presumed was one of Charlie's students. "Yes, Stephanie? What can I help you with?"

"Well, you told me to come in today after class to talk about my thesis…" the girl's voice trailed off. Charlie suddenly became red in the face, muttering something about forgetting his appointment. "I can come in sometime tomorrow, if that would be better for you?"

Charlie hesitated for a moment before answering. When he did, it was slow, and Don could tell he was embarrassed about forgetting his student. "Yeah. That would work better. I'm sorry, something has come up today."

"That isn't a problem, Professor. That would actually work better for me, too. What time should I come tomorrow?"

"How does about an hour before class sound?"

Stephanie nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Good-bye, Professor." She turned her head towards Don. "Good-bye, Sir." She turned, heading out the door. A glint from her back alerted Don, and he connected her to the case he was about to discuss with Charlie.

After she left the doorway, Don pulled his gun out of his holster, and yells, "FBI! TURN AROUND, AND PUT YOU HANDS ABOVE YOU HEAD!" He couldn't imagine a girl, looking around the age of eighteen, could have kidnapped five girls, but with the looks of having a gun in her pocket, Don figured it would be better to be safe than sorry.

Nervously, Stephanie turned around to face the agent, all of her stuff now scattered around her on the floor. "Now, slowly take the gun out of your pocket."

Stephanie looked completely confused. "But, Sir, I don't have a gun in my pocket."

Still holding his gun out, Don walked around Stephanie until he was able to see what he thought was the gun. Seeing nothing, he returned the gun to his holster, and told Stephanie to relax. "Stephanie, if I may ask, why are you wearing your belt backwards?"

Stephanie, apparently much more comfortable, sighed. Don couldn't tell if it was a sigh of frustration or relief. "Because, Sir-"

"Agent Eppes. You've called me 'Sir' enough now, I think."

"Agent Eppes, I was trying to find out how long it would take for somebody to notice something out of the norm. My roommate last night got a little frustrated when I told her something was out of order. She claimed that nobody notices anything that is that subtle a change. So, I wanted to see if anybody would notice it. Surprisingly, I have been out of my dorm room since seven this morning. It is now four in the afternoon, and you are the first person to comment on it." She suddenly chuckled, saying, "I guess it's good that someone that observant is working for the FBI."

Don pulled out a business card from his wallet, laughing to himself. "Here's my card. If you spot anything extremely 'out of the norm', call me, okay? We can always use more eyes for the FBI."

Stephanie took the card. "I will, Agent Eppes. Don't worry." She smiled. "I'd better be going. It was nice meeting you. I'll see you tomorrow, Professor." With a small nod, she finally exited the classroom without incident.

Don turned to Charlie, and noticed how upset he was. "Hey, Buddy, what's wrong?"

Charlie sighed. "I've never forgotten about a student before. That's all."

"Charlie, that was my fault. I insisted on coming today. Besides, she said that it would be better for her to come tomorrow as well. Don't beat yourself up about it." Charlie looked up, and sighed again. "Look, I would appreciate it if you came to the office with me, and then we can go out and just hang out, okay?"

He nodded, and picked up his stuff. Together, the brothers walked out of the room and headed towards the front entrance to the Math and Science building at Cal Sci. As they were opening the doors, however, Don's phone rang.

"Eppes."

"Don, it's Megan. We have another abduction that we think is relevant to the case. How soon can you get over to Cal Sci?"

"You mean a student was abducted _here?_ I mean, Charlie and I are already here, about to leave."

"Then head to the back exit of the Math and Science building. The girl's stuff was there, and witnesses said…never mind. I'll tell you when I get over there."

"Got it." The cell phone snapped shut quickly. Charlie's eyes were wide open, obviously after hearing Don's end of the phone conversation.

"A student was abducted here?"

"Yeah. Back exit of this building. Let's go."

They started walking fast to the scene, before Charlie put two-and-two together. "Don, it isn't Stephanie, is it?"

Don's eyes grew wide enough to match his brother's. Quietly, he swore under his breath, and picked up his pace even more, with Charlie close to his heels.

Reaching the crime scene, Don showed his identification to the officer in charge, and pulled Charlie under the police tape as well. All that remained was a couple of scattered books, all with the name 'Stephanie Broker' on labels

Minutes afterward, Megan and David showed up on the scene. Megan walked over to Don, and consequently Charlie. Charlie was muttering to himself, and Don just looked shocked, though he trying to hide it as much as he could.

"What do we know about the vic?" Megan asked him.

"Stephanie Broker, I'm guessing around age eighteen." Megan nodded to Don, but before she was able to reply, he said, "And Charlie and I saw her just minutes before the abduction."

The same shocked expression that Don had on his face showed up on her face. Charlie still looked incredibly worried, but at least he had stopped muttering. "Don?" she asked cautiously. "You do know what this means, right?"

Don nodded, and he stopped trying to hide his shock. Charlie looked at him quizzically, confused as to what it meant.

"What it means, Charlie, is-" Don had to stop to breathe, and instead just sighed loudly. "It means that we are both suspects for kidnapping. And, if this follows the kidnappings that have been happening lately, a charge of murder is added to the deal as well." Charlie's face no longer showed worry. It showed downright terror. Don could not blame him. He felt exactly the same way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Do you really think I would be calling this _fan_fiction if I owned this? Nope, it would be called _original_ fiction, and on the tube.

**Author's Note:** Can I just take a moment to thank all my reviewers and say how wonderful you made me feel this week? Also, for the questions on if Don and Charlie would actually be considered suspects, two things: One, my dad's friend is a retired police officer, and he said that, under the circumstances, they would be suspects. You know, a wrong-place-wrong-time sort of thing. Two, hopefully I clear up some questions from the first chapter with this chapter…or maybe I just added to the confusion. And, last but not least, I'm looking for a beta for this story. It would be much appreciated if you would beta for me.

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Don was flopped on the couch at the house, about to finish his second beer for the night. Knowing he would have a hangover in the morning at the rate he was drinking, Don finished the bottle and stood up to get another one. Floods of memories came back, mixing with each other.

"We've figured out the profile of the kidnapper…"

"_Witnesses say two people kidnapped Miss Broker. One was about six feet tall, the other was about five-foot-eight…"_

"_The suspect is very determined to succeed. He continues to work, especially when others believe he cannot solve a problem…"_

"_The kidnappers were wearing all black, including face masks, so it was impossible to identify them. They can be almost anyone…"_

"_And if this follows the kidnappings that have been happening lately, a charge of murder is added to the deal as well…"_

"_Don? You do know what this means, right?"_

"_What it means, Charlie, is-It means that we are both suspects for kidnapping."_

Don shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He twisted the cap off the bottle of beer he didn't even remember getting out of the refrigerator. Lying back down on the couch, Don tried to organize the information he knew about the case. He was not allowed to work on the case itself, now that he was a suspect, but he still wanted to find _something_ he could say to prove his innocence, or (in his mind) more importantly, Charlie's.

"The longer he is suspected of kidnapping his student, the worse trouble he would be in with the rest of the students and with the administration." Once Don was cleared, the episode would blow over and nobody would judge him anymore. That was the nature of his job. Charlie's credibility could be hurt forever. It didn't take a rocket scientist or a mathematical genius to know that the longer Charlie was a suspect was directly proportional to how long it would take for the experience to blow over for him.

Taking a drink, Don tried to concentrate on the profile of the kidnapper. Megan said he was going to be determined to prove his value and his abilities, although sometimes he doubted his own abilities when something does not work for him. He also works better alone, and when he did need help, he wanted to be in control. "That sounds a lot like us; stubborn and determined."

Getting nowhere with the profile, Don turned to what he had heard of the eyewitness accounts. Two men, one about six-feet tall, the other about five-foot-eight. "No help. I'm an inch taller than the first man, and Charlie's exactly five-foot-eight. Once again, the description matches with us."

Frustrated, Don stood up, took another large swallow of beer, and headed towards the garage. He knew Charlie would be working on some sort of math; math seemed to be one of the few things he was happy doing, one of the few things that could get his mind off of his problems. Don's only worry was that he was working on an algorithm or some other equation relating to the case. He wouldn't really appreciate any more problems with the case, and working on solving the case when he was a suspect would be considered a problem.

"Charlie?" he called, opening the door. He was rather surprised when Charlie responded on his first try.

"Ah, Don, I was hoping you were going to come in. I want to show you something."

"Oh no," Don thought. That sounded like he had, in fact, been working on something related to the case. "Hey, Charlie. No offense, but I don't want to hear it if it relates to the case, okay? We can get into trouble if the other agents find out you have been solving it without permission. My job is worth more than that, and I know yours is too."

" I haven't been solving the case, I've just been working with an algorithm that proves we didn't kidnap Stephanie. Besides, this isn't just for you and me. The faster we prove our innocence, the faster I can start figuring out who might have been the real kidnappers or where they may have taken her or any of the other students." Charlie looked somewhat upset that Don didn't want to listen to his reasoning.

"No, Charlie. I'd rather be safe than sorry. You can bring this up at the interview tomorrow if you wish, but I don't want to be a part of this." Don turned around and was about to leave the garage when Charlie pulled him back.

"Don, listen to me. This may be our only chance to prove our innocence. Besides, anyone can see that these equations are not related to solving the case, just proving that we didn't do anything." Charlie seemed to be persistent-no, _pleading_-with him to listen. Sighing, Don turned around to try and explain again how much trouble the two of them would be in.

"I hate to tell you this, but not just anyone can see what those equations really mean." There was a pause, and then, "You know, Buddy, we might do better if you spent more time working on what you are going to say tomorrow rather than a math problem that could be seen as you trying to solve the case on your own."

Don couldn't remember a time that he felt more sorry for his brother. The sad, hurt look in his eyes showed quite plainly that he would rather be doing math at this point than thinking about what he was going to say the next day. "Or, if you can't concentrate on that, work on P versus NP or something. Just…don't work on the case, okay?" Before he could receive a response, Don polished off his beer and headed back into the house.

Don couldn't believe the reaction Charlie was having to Stephanie's kidnapping. Normally in a situation like this, Charlie would become oblivious to the world, and resort to his P versus NP. Instead, he was waiting for Don to come out of his own mental hiding spot, and was trying to solve a reasonable problem. Was his brother worried? Scared? Anxious? All three of these? "If we are convicted, I'm going to take all the blame for it. There's no way I would be able to stand knowing Charlie was convicted as an innocent man," Don thought sternly. Knowing that Charlie would be considered innocent by the law eventually made the grey area just a little easier to bear.

-----------------

Don sat in the chair the next day, unmoving, unfeeling. He knew that Megan would be coming in to the interrogation room soon, but right now, he could feel their eyes staring at him through the glass, the glass that he could only stare right back at himself in. But right now, he wasn't looking at the glass. He was staring at his clenched hands, woven together on the table. Although he knew the time was coming to give his statement, it didn't make him any more ready for what was to come.

He thought of Charlie, who was in the conference room, waiting for his turn in the interrogation room. He could imagine him pacing about, thinking deeply about the equations that would "prove" his innocence. Or he could be sitting in there, just as Don was, thinking about what was about to come.

The door opened, disturbing him from his thoughts, but still Don didn't react. He didn't look up to see Megan's face, to look in her eyes. She knew it had to be almost as hard for her as it was for him to do the interrogation. But it didn't make him feel any better. In fact, he felt that much worse about it.

"Don?" she asked cautiously, just like she did the day before. "Are you ready to do this, or do you want a few more minutes?"

"I just want this to be over, more than anything else. So we may as well get started." Don's hands moved onto his lap, but he continued to look at where they were a moment before. Don could only imagine David analyzing every move he made, everything he said. He couldn't bear to let him stare him in the face, especially when he himself wasn't allowed to stare back.

Don noticed that she chose to sit next to him, rather than across the table from him. The 'pity' trick, he recognized. That didn't help him much, though; he didn't want her pity, he wanted for the whole mess to be over with. "Okay. Where were you yesterday at four in the afternoon?"

"I was with Charlie. His class had just finished, so I was going to go over the developments in the case with him. That's when Miss Broker showed up to talk to him…" Don continued to tell the rest of the story, all of the information that had happened in those ten minutes. When he finished, there was brief pause, in which Don gathered himself together again, waiting for the next question.

"Can you explain why people saw people who looked like you and Charlie when Stephanie was kidnapped?"

"No. All I can say is that they weren't Charlie and me. We were heading out of the front entrance at about the same time as her disappearance. We were already outside when I got your call."

Megan asked a few more questions of Don, and he answered them with as much description as he could put in. All the while, Don never moved from his position at the table. Finally (must have been about fifteen minutes, Don guessed), Megan ended the interview with a somewhat personal question.

"Don? Are you dealing with this okay?"

Don felt Megan hold his shoulder. It was only a friendly gesture, but it was all he needed. Trying to stop the tears that were bound to fall eventually, Don finally looked up and met her eyes. They had worry in them, similar to his father's when Charlie hadn't eaten or rested for days because of his math. It also looked like she hadn't slept at all the night before.

"You should know that the team has been doing everything we can to get you out of this situation. You and Charlie. The only reason you two are the top two suspects is because we have no other suspects. Nobody believes that you would really do something like this."

Don nodded. "Do you want to know the worst part of this entire ordeal?" His voice hitched, and he cleared his throat to try to hide it. "Knowing that Charlie is in the same situation. Knowing that there is nothing I can do as his older brother to protect him from this."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement, and maybe some other people's as well. I'll put them back on CBS's toy shelf once I am done.

**Author's note:** This chapter is currently unbetaed. Once my beta returns the corrected chapter to me, I shall update it.

----

As Don sat in the interrogation room, he went back to staring at the table. The tears were damned up behind his eyes, waiting to break and fall freely down his face. They weren't tears of sadness; no, they were tears of fear, tears of frustration, and tears of disappointment. Fear of what would happen if he or Charlie were actually accused of kidnapping, frustration of the entire situation, and disappointment in himself for getting the two of them in this situation in the first place.

Megan was still next to him. He wasn't quite sure if she was there for moral support, or if she had more questions for him. _She would have asked them already if she had any other questions. _Frankly, if it was for moral support, it was making him quite uncomfortable. _But what right do I have to say, 'Hey, Megan, thanks for the support, but could you leave?'_ Had he been in any other situation, he would have found that concept funny.

As the two of them sat there in uncomfortable silence, waiting for the either to speak, the door opened. The two heads jolted up to see David walk through the door.

"Megan, there's been a development. We're heading off. Don, you and Charlie need to stay here. You can head off to the conference room, if you would like."

Don nodded as Megan said, "Alright. Thanks, David." She stood up and was to the door before she realized Don wasn't following. " Don? Are you coming?"

Again, Don nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak yet. Standing up, he headed over to the door that Megan was holding open for him. While she and David turned to leave the building, he walked off to the conference room. There he found Charlie pacing, as he thought he would be.

The door opened, bringing Charlie back into the real world. Obviously startled, Charlie asked, "Is it time for my interrogation?" He said it quite calmly, almost like he was bored, as if they were discussing sports without the mathematical aspects of them.

Don again answered his question without talking, and instead shook his head. For the first time in the past five minutes, he spoke. "There was apparently a development in the case. I'm done, but the other agents are all out. We have to stay here."

"Okay," Charlie replied nonchalantly, and sat down at the table. Don soon followed suit.

After about a minute of silence, Don asked, "Charlie?"

"Hm?"

"How come you are so calm about all of this? Yesterday, when I went down to the garage, you responded the first time I called your name. You weren't working on P versus NP, either. Aren't you even a little worried?"

"First of all, Don, I am worried. Don't get me wrong about that. But what good is worrying going to do? It would simply be more logical to do something about it, rather than working on something like P versus NP. Second, the FBI charges the wrong person for a crime less than one percent of the time. Even then, in only a couple of those cases, the court found the person or persons guilty when they were truly innocent. You should know that, Don. Third, I only work on P versus NP when I get worried or overwhelmed with something that I have no control over, and that I cannot do anything to help the situation. As for why I responded to you on your first try in contacting me, I was waiting for you to come out to the garage, so I wanted to make sure that I was paying attention. Sure, I was working slower that way, but it still worked out."

"Right." Don contemplated his reasoning, and found he really didn't understand why his brother was acting the way he was, nor was he probably ever going to figure it out.

The two of them sat there in the silence before Charlie spoke up again.

"Don?"

"Yeah, Buddy?"

"Why are you so worried?"

"Well, you just said yourself that you are worried-"

"No, I mean-Why are you so worried about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You came down to the garage yesterday to check on me. You were worried that I was trying to solve the case on my own, even though I'm not supposed to. You wondered if I was even worried about the entire situation, like I didn't know the complexity of what was going on. So I am wondering why you think that."

Don sighed. _He's right. I am worrying about him._ "Look, Buddy. I'm worried about you for several reasons. One, you being a suspect can hurt your job. And the longer you are considered a suspect, especially on a charge of kidnapping your own student, the longer it will take for the damage of this situation to blow over for you."

"Well, it will hurt your job as well, won't it?"

"Not as much. That's the good thing about being an FBI agent in this situation. Once I'm found innocent, the incident will blow over, I'll be back to work, and nobody will judge me for it anymore. You are one of the best professors at Cal Sci, and you have a high reputation there. The smallest problem can bring it down."

Don paused, wondering if he should give the second reason to Charlie. He knew he would be upset about the reason, but that didn't make it any less of a reason for his reasoning.

"And?"

"And…because I'm your older brother. I've always had to protect you from these kinds of things." There. It got out into the open. Now it didn't matter what Charlie thought about him.

"Don, you know I can take care of myself. You know, being thirty does help teach me about taking care of myself," Charlie defended himself. Looking in his eyes, Don could see betrayal. He knew that throughout the last few months, the two of them had grown closer together, and maybe Charlie had felt that he was an equal to Don, not just seen as his younger brother.

"I know you can. But let me ask you: if our roles were reversed, and you were the older brother instead of me, wouldn't you be a little worried about me?"

"I guess. I wouldn't make it so obvious, though."

"Are you saying I was so obvious? Or have you just gotten used to looking for the signs that I show when I am looking out for you?"

Charlie sighed. Don knew that Charlie would forgive him eventually, but the fact that he was playing 'older brother' certainly frustrated him.

"Buddy, it's not like I purposely decide to protect you. All throughout our high school years, I had to protect you from the older boys. You might have been academically smart, but you didn't know much about protecting yourself back then. I guess it has just become habit for me to protect you," Don said.

Charlie seemed to take it all in, but there was no doubt in Don's mind that all his explaining didn't make him feel much better about being protected as a thirty-year-old. It might have made him feel better in high school to know that his brother was looking out for him, but now it's childish and unnecessary. But Don knew that he wouldn't be able to break his habit anytime soon.

"Don?"

"Yeah?"

"What is going to happen to us? Out of curiosity, I mean."

Don looked at his brother. He could tell Charlie was trying as hard as he could to hide his anxiety, but he was failing at it.

"What do you mean? Nothing bad is going to happen to us."

"Don, the people that did this obviously set us up. It wasn't just a coincidence that Stephanie was kidnapped minutes after we saw her. Nothing that happens is a coincidence. There is a reason for everything." Don snorted at Charlie comment, since he had heard it so often in the past. Charlie seemed to ignore him, and continued. "Even if we are found innocent, somebody is probably watching us. The two of us might be in danger, Don."

"Charlie, whoever is doing this might be doing a good job, but I trust my fellow agents. I know that they are going to find the people that really kidnapped Stephanie, and they will probably be the same people that kidnapped all those other students. Once they do, our jobs will return to normal, our lives will return to normal, and we will be safe." Don didn't fully believe this, and just hoped that Charlie wouldn't catch that from his voice.

If he did notice the fear in his voice, Charlie didn't mention it. The two of them fell back into the silence, mulling things over. Don put his arm on the table, head in his hands, trying to find _something_ in the evidence he knew of to prove their innocence. The witness reports pointed to them, or at least somewhat described them. Their alibis didn't help, since they were each other…unless Larry could help? Maybe he saw them walking out of the building, away from the crime scene. He'd make sure to tell Megan to question Larry…but that wasn't a sure alibi either.

A few minutes later, Don felt a light but persistent tap on his shoulder. Looking up, he realized Charlie was trying to get his attention. "Yesterday, we were talking about the case when Stephanie came in. I interrupted what you were saying. Do you want to finish your thought?"

"It doesn't really help right now, but okay. The weird thing about the case was that we had predicted when the next attack would happen, and we had figured out the profile of the kidnapper, but we didn't actually have any suspects. After the fact, of course, we found that our predictions were wrong, and we have suspects now. And the profile fits both of us."

Charlie nodded a bit sadly. Things were not looking up for the two of them.

Suddenly, David burst into the room. "Don. Would you mind explaining this to me?" He thrust an evidence bag into Don's hands. Inside was one of his business cards. On the back, in what looked almost exactly like his handwriting, were the words, "Just a little out of the norm for you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Numb3rs and all related characters, etc, belong on CBS' shelf, I'm just playing with them. Really, I'm only borrowing them without permission. They'll get back.

**Author's Note:** I'm so sorry that this took so long to get this up. My muses refused to help me on this, and started to bombard me with ideas for other things…hopefully, I won't make you guys wait that long again, though I do not fully promise that. Also, sorry for the short chapter, but this had to come out, and nothing else really fit in with this chapter. Anyways, enjoy!

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Don had learned long ago never to say, "Things cannot get any worse." He knew that things always got worse once he said that, and there was no point in making things any worse than they were already.

However, it was becoming harder and harder not to say it.

First, he was legally considered a suspect, as well as Charlie. But none of the agents believed it, it was just protocol. Now, the note was there, almost exactly in his handwriting, and the agents were beginning to have their doubts.

They couldn't even ask Stephanie, to see if it was him and Charlie that kidnapped her. That was the entire development they left for. Somebody had found her body. She was dead.

David and Colby had both looked at him, disbelief in their face. He could tell that they didn't think he would ever do something like that, but the evidence just kept pointing at him. Megan looked a little disappointed in him, hurt that he had appeared to turn into one of the horrible criminals that he had fought against for so many years. Don was starting to wonder if the judgments against him would really blow over when the case was over.

_This isn't fair. It isn't fair to either me or Charlie._

Now that the two of them were back at the house, Don was trying to control his frustration.

"Don?" Charlie asked him tentatively. Don barely registered that he heard his voice, like it was far away. Charlie was sitting on the couch, across from where Don sat in his chair. Neither of them were doing much of anything, just wising their problems would go away.

"Yeah Buddy?"

"Things are going to be alright for us. They'll work out. The evidence is on our side."

"You mean the evidence is on your side. You remember that note on the back of my business card? Even though I didn't write that, it sure looked like it did. Witness accounts say that people that look like us were the kidnappers. We were right there in the building, talking to her only a couple minutes before she was kidnapped. I pulled a gun on her, Charlie. Evidence is most definitely not on my side," Don snapped back.

Charlie involuntarily shifted backwards in his seat, but recovered from the remark quickly. "Well, that's what they think the evidence shows. But the math would prove otherwise."

"Charlie, what I need right now is not math to solve this. I need concrete evidence to prove that we are innocent. Besides, you aren't allowed to use your math on this case."

"What's this? You are trying to convince Charlie to not do math? Are you going crazy?" Alan asked, entering the room. The brothers both jumped at the sudden interruption, but relaxed when they saw it was their father.

"No, he's allowed to do math. Just not for this case," Don responded. He managed to smile weakly at his father. "I tried to get him to stop doing math when he was six, remember? I'm not making that mistake again."

Charlie smiled, and it looked like a genuine smile. Since Charlie has always been a horrible liar, Don wondered if it was real. "I remember that. I elbowed you in the chest, didn't I?"

Yes, it was a genuine smile, a nice change from the sulking that both of them had been doing for the past day or two. "Yeah. Never even turned around. Just knocked the wind out of me and continued to work."

They all shared a laugh, and it felt good to truly laugh again. Don hoped that he would be laughing more within the next few days.

"So, Don," Alan turned back to him, "this is a first. Since last year, whenever he thought he could help, you always allowed Charlie to use his math for a case. What's different about this one that Charlie isn't allowed to help?"

_Dang it._ Don thought. He had hoped that he would never have to find out about this. But there was no way out of it, now that his father directly asked. And his father was the only one who could always tell when he was lying, even if he didn't acknowledge it.

"The reason that Charlie isn't allowed to help is the same reason that I'm not working on it," Don started, trying to delay the full answer. Alan merely nodded, encouraging him to continue. "There were several kidnappings and murders of college students recently, and we thought we had figured out the pattern of the guy, even though we didn't have any suspects." Don continued to tell the story, glad that Charlie or their father didn't interrupt him. Now that he had started, it was easier to just continue without interruption.

"And so, because the evidence seems to be pointing at it, Charlie and I are both considered suspects. Although I believe that they think Charlie is only an accomplice, and I'm kind of the ring leader of this." Don sighed. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, since he was no longer hiding anything from his father. The feeling in his stomach refused to go away, though, and he suspected that it wouldn't until the entire mess was over.

"Oh, Donnie, why didn't you say anything before?"

"There was no point in going out of the way to tell you. I knew you would just worry about us, and there's no point to. We know we're innocent."

"Don, I am your father. It's my job to worry about you boys. And it doesn't matter how old you two get, I'm still going to worry," Alan told him. He relaxed a little afterwards, but Don could see that there was no way he was completely relaxed now. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Do? What can we do? We just have to wait until the other agents get it all sorted out, right? The two of us aren't able to work on the case at all, so we can't bring forth evidence or a number pattern or anything. I trust the agents, but this guy is apparently good at what he's doing. I don't think he's going to be caught anytime soon."

"Personally, right now, I don't care much about the other guy getting caught. I mean, I don't want other people to be kidnapped or killed, but they aren't my primary concern. Really, I don't want my boys to be worried about this kind of thing right now."

"You know," Charlie piped up, and Don realized for the first time that he had been quiet the entire time he and his father were talking, "I'm starting to think that this kidnapping isn't linked to the others."

"What do you mean, Charlie?" their father asked. Don was mildly interested, as it probably dealt with math to try to solve the case. And it didn't seem to matter how much he said that he wasn't allowed to solve the case, Charlie would probably continue to work on it.

"Well, you said you guys had figured out a pattern, right Don?"

"Yeah. So what? Obviously, we were wrong."

"Not necessarily. What if the victim profile happened to be the same for both, but it was actually two different kidnappers? What if the first kidnapper was on his own, and somebody who wanted to get revenge on either you or me, or both of us, started a new pattern for himself? The FBI would be working on two different cases," Charlie explained.

"Are you actually saying this might be a coincidence?" his father asked.

"Dad, you know I don't believe in coincidences. Because Stephanie's profile was close to the other students, I'm guessing that it was an attempt at a copycat," Charlie responded. It was apparent to Don that he had thought this all out.

"But if it was a copycat, why would he break the pattern?" Don wasn't sure whether to believe the theory or not.

"Either the kidnapper didn't notice there was a set pattern, or he wanted to make it seem like your determined pattern was wrong. I'm guessing the latter."

Don nodded. Charlie actually had a point, and explained himself well without using math. Of course, this wouldn't help much now, but once Charlie was found innocent, it could help find the real guy for either of the cases.

"Of course, there is only one way to test this theory."

"Yeah. Have another victim," Don finished, sinking back into the chair. Silence followed, and the sound of Don's phone ringing cut through the silence.

"Eppes."

"Don, it's Colby. We need you and Charlie over at the office as soon as you can get here."

"Okay. We can be there in about fifteen minutes."

"And Don?" Colby sounded slightly uncomfortable. "You know that as your friends, we don't believe that you or Charlie would do something like this. But with the evidence all pointing your way, as an FBI agent, I would suggest that you hire a lawyer for you two."

"Okay. Thanks Colby." Don hung up the phone with a feeling of defeat. Things had definitely just gotten worse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** So, basically, I wanted to write this story, so I took Charlie's blackboards from both his garage and from Cal-Sci, promising to return them if Charlie agreed to do this story. Of course, big brother Don came to try to get the blackboards back, so I got him to join Charlie in the story. He brought the entire FBI team to back him up, so I had to get _them_ into the story. And Alan didn't want to be left out. Point is, I don't own these people; I just have control over them for a while. Ah, the wonders of what a few blackboards can do. No wonder Charlie likes to use them so much.

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry this took so long to put up. Between schoolwork, humongous chemistry tests, and writer's block, I haven't had much chance to write. And sorry this is so short, but I wanted to get it just right, as this is an important chapter, and nothing else really fit into it well. There will only be one, maybe two more chapters after this.

----

Once again, Don found himself in the interrogation room of the FBI office, facing the two-way mirror. Charlie was sitting on his right, his face set and emotionless, looking like he wasn't afraid of what was coming. Don would have been fooled if he didn't know Charlie well, but the face showed him that Charlie was afraid, and very much so. On Don's left was their lawyer, going through his suitcase, which was on the table. Both David and Megan were facing the three of them, and Don assumed that either Colby or Merrick was in the observation room, if not both of them.

The lawyer he and Charlie hired was a buff man, but was very nice. He wasn't like many of the lawyers Don had seen in the past that defended their clients like there was no tomorrow. He listened to both Don's and Charlie's thoughts before deciding a course of action. And now that they were listening to all the evidence David was giving, and the lawyer was listening intently, not interrupting him. It was nice that Mr. Kalkan was giving professional courtesy to the coworkers of his clients, and he was a good lawyer, but Don honestly would not be recommending this guy anytime soon.

"We have evidence to believe Don and Charlie are guilty of kidnapping and murdering six students. We have a handwriting sample that puts Don at the scene of the murder of Miss Stephanie Broker, and eyewitness accounts and their statements put them at the scene of the kidnapping of her. We believe that her case follows a pattern, connecting it to the kidnapping and murder of five other people. So now, we are asking for a confession." The entire time David was talking, Megan was silent. She watched Mr. Kalkan, who was still facing David.

Mr. Kalkan finally spoke, slightly surprising Don, who had started to think he wouldn't get any defense from his lawyer.

"Six kidnappings? We were only aware of five."

"This morning, we found another body, Mr. Kalkan. The background of the vic matched the previous cases, so we believe they are related."

Another kidnapping. Another death. The test of Charlie's theory had come, but they didn't even know if this kidnapping followed the pattern or not.

Mr. Kalkan nodded his head, and silence filled the room. Five seconds, ten seconds, thirty seconds, a whole minute passed before anyone said anything. Then, to the horror of everyone else in the room, Mr. Kalkan asked, "What kind of deal can we get if my clients plead guilty?"

Charlie's eyes became wide with shock. His brown eyes seemed to want to pop out of their sockets. Don's eyes looked exactly the same. David's mouth dropped, and he didn't show any sign of closing it soon. Megan simply stared at Mr. Kalkan in disbelief.

Don was the first to respond. "David, Megan, do you mind if Charlie and I talk to our lawyer alone for a while?" The chairs scraped against the concrete as the two agents left the room.

Turning to his left, he could see that Mr. Kalkan was not worried. In fact, it looked like he was completely calm. Don was the exact opposite; anger and rage surged throughout his entire body. "What do you think you are doing? Why are you asking about the plea bargain?" he all but yelled.

"Well, as your lawyer, I need to guide you to get the best deal you can get. With the evidence they are giving, the courts are likely to find you two guilty of the six kidnappings and murders. You can get life imprisonment for that, if not the death penalty. If you plead guilty, you can get a much better deal, and probably save your life." The all-too-calm look was still on his face, and Don wanted more than anything just to wipe it off.

"What evidence? It's all circumstantial!"

"But you've already admitted that you were around the scene of the kidnapping of one of the young girls when it happened. You admitted that you spoke to her mere minutes before she was kidnapped. Believe me, it will be much better for both of you to plead guilty and save your necks than be tried by the court and sentenced to death!"

"That puts us at the scene of only one kidnapping, Mr. Kalkan," Charlie spoke up. "There were also several hundred other people there at that time. We were heading out the front doors to the math building at the time, and the kidnapping took place at the back exit. Besides, Miss Broker's kidnapping and murder doesn't fit the pattern. They can't find us guilty on the other five, even if we did kidnap and murder Miss Broker."

"What do you mean, it her murder doesn't fit the pattern of the other girls'?" Mr. Kalkan asked, and the calm finally disappeared from his face, surprise taking over. "They were all female students. They all had similar backgrounds. There was no pattern. They were all random."

"Nothing is random, Mr. Kalkan. There is always a pattern," Charlie responded.

Don followed the conversation, curiosity building in his mind. A lawyer shouldn't know that there wasn't a pattern, unless he had other information. He shouldn't be telling Charlie stuff like he was saying.

"You know, Mr. Kalkan, if you continue to tell us that we should plead guilty on this case, I'm going to have to let you go as our lawyer," Don said nonchalantly.

"What do you mean you are going to 'let me go'? I'm the best chance you two have of getting any type of plea bargain. The kidnapping and murder of six girls is a heavy offense."

"And we told you that we didn't do it. You are supposed to be acting as our representative, and working towards our best interests, not your own."

"Your best interests might not be what you think they are, Mr. Eppes. You might think that you are not going to be convicted, because you work for the FBI, but even you can be charged for murder."

"Well, even if we are, we still need a lawyer that will fight for us. You aren't doing that. In fact, you seem to want to get us into jail. So, you are fired," Don announced.

Mr. Kalkan's mouth opened, but he closed it before he said anything. Instead, he angrily slammed his briefcase closed, turned on his heel, and headed towards the door. Reaching to grab the handle, the door opened before he even touched it.

"Where do you think you are going, Mr. Kalkan?" Megan asked, fake sweetness apparent in her voice. David was right behind her.

"Don, Charlie, I'll escort you two out now. We would like to talk to Mr. Kalkan alone right now," David said, motioning them to walk out into the hallway with him.

"You are not talking to me without a lawyer," Mr. Kalkan responded.

"That can be arranged. I'm sure whoever you get will be a better lawyer than you were with the Eppes'," Megan countered.

Closing the door, David looked over to the brothers. "This may be the break we were waiting for."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything related to the show _Numb3rs_, though I do own a sweatshirt that says 'FBI'.

----

Friday the thirteenth. The day of the trial had arrived, and now Don was sitting in the courtroom, Charlie sitting next to him. Their father was sitting a few rows back, and Don could only imagine the worry and concern on his face. Each Eppes brother was wearing his best business suit; Don's being navy blue, and Charlie's was a light brown.

Don had already wiped his brow free of sweat several times during the trial already, and he moved to repeat his action again when the prosecution stood up. Charlie had just been up to give his testimony, and now it was Don's turn.

"The prosecution would like to call Special Agent Donald Eppes up to the stand."

Shaking, Don stood up and walked over to the witness stand.

After taking the oath, Don sat down and mentally prepared himself for the questions. Looking over to the defense's bench, he saw George Kalkan, his ex-lawyer for this exact charge. It was astonishing how fast this case had turned around for him. They had yet to find the person who murdered the other five girls, but the fact that they had caught the guy who had brought so much trouble into his life, and into Charlie's, brought much relief to Don.

"Agent Eppes," the attorney started. "Can you describe exactly how you know the defendant?"

"He was my lawyer when I was a suspect for this case."

The attorney continued to ask questions, but Don couldn't fully remember them. The nods from Charlie were all that gave him the only assurance he had, and all that he need to know he wasn't screwing up.

Before he knew it, the attorney was sitting down, and Mr. Kalkan's defense lawyer was standing up.

"Agent Eppes, you said that you were originally a suspect on this case?"

"That is correct, but I was cleared of all charges." Finally, Don's mind seemed to clear, and he was able to focus. It was a good thing, too, because it was obvious this lawyer wanted to pin the charge on him again, as he had done with Charlie.

"But you were at the scene of the kidnapping of Stephanie Broker, were you not?"

"I was, as well as hundreds of other people."

"How is it, then, that you are not on trial for this case as my client is? Even if he was there as well, why is it he accused and you are not?"

"Objection, Your Honor. Badgering the witness," the prosecution lawyer called out.

"Sustained. Mr. Dagenwoods, the agent is not on trial here; do not act as though he is," the judge addressed the defense lawyer.

Mr. Dagenwoods continued with his questions. "Did you ever see my client at the scene of the kidnapping?"

"No, I did not." Don's response apparently had the effect that Mr. Dagenwoods had hoped for.

"Then how do you, as an agent for the FBI, know that my client committed the kidnapping of Miss Stephanie Broker?"

"As I was not working on the case, I do not know that he kidnapped her, being an FBI agent. However, the way he acted in the interrogation room clued me in, and I trust that the other agents did their job."

The cross examination continued, and several more questions were sustained because of the lawyers badgering. Finally, Don's testimony was finished, and he headed back to his seat, glad to be one step closer to having the episode be over.

----

The jury filed back into the room, having come to their agreement.

"Has the jury reached its decision?" the judge asked.

"We have, Your Honor," the representative replied.

"Will the defendant please rise?" The Mr. Kalkan and his lawyer both responded to the judge's request and waited to hear the decision.

Don held his breath, and he could hear Charlie suck in his as well. Everything was on the line now. Whatever issued out of the mouth of the jury representative would either make the case start over at the beginning, or end the entire ordeal.

"On the charge of the kidnapping of Miss Stephanie Broker, we, the jury, find the defendant…guilty. On the charge of the murder of Miss Stephanie Broker, we find the defendant…guilty."

"We will meet again to decide the defendant's punishment in one week's time. Until then, court is adjourned." The pounding of the hammer rang through the courtroom, the decision final.

As Charlie and Don stood up, Don sighed in relief. Perhaps Friday the thirteenth wasn't so bad. Finally, everything would be returning to normal for the brothers.

----

The family went out to dinner that night to celebrate the end of the case. Don found it was almost weird to be eating dinner with his family without worrying about a case, whether it was one he was working on or one that he was a suspect for. Perhaps he had grown used to the worry and the stress that came with his job, and could no longer feel as free as he did just then. Or maybe because he was used to that stress that truly relaxing felt that much more refreshing.

The carefree feeling lasted all throughout dinner, and Don could tell he wasn't the only one feeling it. Ten years seemed to be wiped away from his father's face as he laughed at Charlie's jokes. The jokes, to Charlie's credit, were not math-related, but silly jokes that college students would tell each other. Charlie seemed much more alive than usual, which surprised Don, as Charlie was almost always full of life.

About halfway through the meal, the laughter died down, and the three of them grew serious at a comment made by Charlie. "Don? You realize that the guy that kidnapped and killed the other five girls is still out there, right? And the agents spent all that time coming after us, which they only had some evidence against us for one person."

Don was taken aback at the comment. Yes, they had caught the killer of one person, and all that time was wasted interrogating the two of them. They could have been spending that time finding the real killer, not the copycat. Or did they really waste their time?

After a few moments of solemn thinking, Don replied. "Yes, I realize that the first guy is still out there, possibly laughing at us agents because we only got the copycat, not the real killer. And, yes, the team went after the two of us instead of going after that one guy." Don paused, partially for dramatic effect, but also to clear his thoughts a little before continuing. "But you know what? I'm not mad at them for what they put us through. They showed that they are not willing to bend the law, or ignore evidence, just because of who the suspect is. It reminds me what a great law system we have, although I may get frustrated with it occasionally when working on a case. Everybody is truly equal before the law. Those that work for the government are not exempt from it. And the law protects everyone just the same way. I mean, if we weren't allowed to have our own lawyer, and instead had a lawyer the agents assigned to our case, we might not have found the right guy. And, yes, just because we got to hire our own lawyer doesn't mean we automatically found the guy framing us. But if the agents had assigned a lawyer to us, they might not have believed that the lawyer was the killer in the first place, and the lawyer would have been working for them, not for us. So I'm coming away with no hard feelings towards the other agents. And don't worry, we'll catch the other person before long."

Their father seemed to take this all in faster than Charlie did. "And that's part of the reason I'm so proud that you are an agent, Donnie. Not everybody can go after people equally depending on the evidence, not on personal relations."

Charlie nodded, his dark curls bobbing up and down, before breaking out in a grin again. "So, Mr. Patriotic Guy, does that mean you're returning to the great, just office that is part of this nation's great, just government?"

Don laughed. "Nope. I think I'll enjoy the system from home for the weekend. No work until Monday."

Alan raised his hands above his head, and looked towards the ceiling. "Good God, it's a miracle! Donnie's taking a vacation from work!"

His sons joined in laughter again.

----

The weekend at home passed without incident, though Don found he had better rest than he had in a long time, almost since he joined the Bureau. Charlie was able to keep away from his chalkboards the entire time he was at the house, which suggested that something was up. However, Don couldn't care less at that point of time. Maybe he just wanted a break from work as much as Don did.

Monday came, and Don showed up to work in a better mood than the other agents. Don had to admit that coming back to work after a break was always hard, but why was he in such a better mod than everyone else? He never did figure it out, but he became serious about his work once again as Megan told him the news.

"Our killer is back again. Another student was kidnapped early this morning over at USC. It matches the pattern of our killer, but he was a bit sloppy. We may be able to catch him this time."

Don didn't know whether to be solemn at the news of another kidnapping, or pleased at the fact that he was about to lead the investigation again. As seriously as he could, he replied, "Okay, you know what that means. Let's head out."

Fin

How was that, you guys? Finally got this baby finished. Hmm, is that a sequel I see in the future? Well, I don't want to commit myself yet, but I'm thinking there might be. Maybe this summer? Who knows?

Thanks to all the support I got on this. All of the reviews you guys gave, all those people that made this story part of their favorites list or put on story alert, I am grateful to. I especially want to send a special shout-out to luvnumb3rs, who sent me a personal message that motivated me to finish this thing, and quickly.


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